Annual shipments of semiconductors, about to exceed one trillion units

IC Insights believes that this year the billion will be exceeded for the first time. This after 2017 was able to exceed the figure of 900,000 million.

This year could be historic for the semiconductor market if the IC Insights forecasts are met .

According to the 2018 edition of its McClean Report-A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry , in 2018 shipments of units will grow by 9% , which means to exceed the billion for the first time in history.

Although this 9% growth is far from being the highest that the industry has registered over the years, it will be enough to establish a milestone that has never been achieved before.

This drive in semiconductors is explained by the need for components for smartphones , automotive systems and the internet of things.

To put the figure of one billion units in perspective it is sufficient to point out that last year the 900,000 million units were surpassed after experiencing a growth of 14%. Although you can go much further: forty years ago, in 1978, were 32,600 million units.

The largest growth that has been experienced in terms of semiconductor shipments was 34% in 1984, followed by 25% in 2010. Meanwhile, the most bulky decrease occurred in 2001, reaching 19%.

It should also be remembered that between 2004 and 2007 three important barriers were broken: those of the 400,000, 500,000 and 600,000 million units.